The old man eats of the fruit of the Tree of Life, but drops dead, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Ninth Night

The work is a miniature painting illustrating a moment from the ninth night of the Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot). Rendered on paper, it portrays a richly appointed interior where a man in vivid orange and green garments sits upon a throne, clutching a golden fruit, while another figure in red collapses at his feet. Arabic legend text runs along the lower border, framing the scene.

The composition visualizes the episode in which an elder consumes the fruit of the Tree of Life and immediately dies, a moral episode common in Persian didactic literature. The juxtaposition of the triumphant figure holding the fruit and the fallen companion underscores the paradoxical danger of seeking divine knowledge without proper preparation.

Executed in the Persian miniature tradition, the painting employs opaque water‑based pigments and gold leaf on a paper support. The interior architecture is rendered with bold red and gold wall surfaces, intricate geometric floor patterns, and a gilded canopy over the throne. Figures are stylized with elongated limbs, flat color fields, and decorative detailing characteristic of 16th‑century Safavid court art.

As an example of Safavid miniature painting, the work contributes to scholarly understanding of narrative illustration, pigment use, and the transmission of moral literature across the Islamic world. It continues to be referenced in studies of Persian manuscript art and displayed in exhibitions exploring the interplay of text and image.